Modern Missile Defense System as an Indispensable State’s and NATO’s Deterrence Tool

The main aim of this article is to prove the significance of the missile defense system for military deterrence at the allied (NATO) and national level (the US, Poland, etc.). To achieve the aim, theoretical research methods such as analysis, synthesis, comparison and generalization were applied. The results of the conducted research show that the missile defense system of Poland and other alliance members, and the NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defense System should be considered as the crucial elements of the military deterrence, even though such systems are not offensive in nature. Thus, the formulated thesis undermines the up-to-date understanding of the problem, and therefore may contribute to further discussion on the topic of using means of defensive deterrence.